2027: INEC Rejects Jonathan’s Presidential Nomination

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the presidential nomination of former President Goodluck Jonathan submitted by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that candidate nominations can only be filed through its designated electronic portal.

The development comes after the Turaki-led interim leadership of the PDP claimed it had manually submitted Jonathan’s nomination and the names of its governorship, National Assembly and state assembly candidates for the 2027 general elections.

Speaking on the issue, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, said the commission would not accept nominations outside the official electronic process.

She explained that the commission’s regulations and guidelines require all political parties to submit candidates through a dedicated online portal, making manual submission unacceptable.

Despite INEC’s position, the Turaki faction maintained that its submission complied with the Electoral Act 2026.

The faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the committee resorted to manual submission after INEC allegedly refused to provide the access codes required to upload candidates through the commission’s electronic platform.

According to him, the access codes are only an administrative requirement and not a legal condition for submitting candidates.

He insisted that the committee successfully delivered the list of candidates, including Jonathan’s presidential nomination, and that the commission acknowledged receipt of the documents.

Ememobong warned INEC against recognising or publishing any list other than the one submitted by the Turaki-led committee, stating that the faction would pursue all available legal and constitutional measures if a different list was accepted.

He traced the leadership dispute within the PDP to a Supreme Court judgment, which he said left the party without a legally recognised National Working Committee.

According to him, the party’s Board of Trustees and a properly convened National Executive Committee meeting subsequently constituted the Interim National Working Committee now led by Kabiru Turaki.

He argued that INEC’s refusal to recognise the interim leadership, despite receiving formal notification, forced the faction to seek judicial intervention.

Ememobong also criticised a recent Federal High Court judgment relating to the leadership dispute, describing it as inconsistent with previous decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

He disclosed that the faction had already filed an appeal against the judgment and would also challenge what it described as discrepancies between the ruling delivered in court and its Certified True Copy.

The PDP faction further accused INEC of abandoning its role as an impartial electoral body, alleging that the commission had failed to act fairly in handling the party’s internal crisis.

Ememobong claimed the commission ignored congresses it had monitored and failed to present all relevant facts during court proceedings involving the party.

He also alleged that the PDP was the first target of a broader effort to weaken opposition parties and pave the way for one-party dominance in Nigeria.

According to him, similar challenges are now affecting other opposition parties, a development he said poses a threat to Nigeria’s multi-party democratic system.

He called on Nigerians to defend democratic principles and expressed confidence that the Turaki-led faction would eventually succeed in its legal battle.

The dispute is expected to further deepen the leadership crisis within the PDP as the party prepares for the 2027 general elections.